Native women are murdered at 10 times the national rate; 1 out 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime, and 3 out of 5 physically assaulted. Learn more at http://www.indianlaw.org.

On November 10, 2011, at 2:15 p.m. (EST), the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a legislative hearing on S. 1763, the Stand Against Violence and Empower (SAVE) Native Women Act.

The Act, introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka in October, would empower Tribes to prosecute violent crimes against Native women in Indian country committed by any person, to improve programs serving Native women under the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA), and to improve data gathering programs to better respond and understand sex trafficking of Native women.

The statistics are staggering. One in three Native women is raped in her lifetime, and six in ten experience physical abuse. Worse, four out of five perpetrators of these crimes are non-Indians who cannot be prosecuted by Tribes under current United States law.

If enacted in conjunction with the 2011 VAWA reauthorization, the SAVE Native Women Act would be life-saving legislation intended to strengthen tribal jurisdiction, provide safety to Native women, and repair the broken and fragmented criminal justice system that fails to protect them.

GET INVOLVED!

Make your voice be heard on Capitol Hill. Submit your written testimony to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs until November 24, 2011. Testimony should be emailed to: testimony@indian.senate.gov.